The Heart Just Grew Fonder When He Was in the Middle East

Ashleigh Jordan Lollie and David William Ward were married June 9 at the First Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee in Florida. Brant Copeland, a Presbyterian minister, performed the ceremony.

The couple met at Florida State University, from which the groom graduated and both received a law degree

The bride, who is 27 and will take her husband’s name, is a real estate lawyer with Fidelity National Financial in Jacksonville, Fla. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida.

She is the daughter of Shannon Y. Lollie and Gregory W. Lollie of Grand Ridge, Fla. The bride’s father is the president of a home moving and disaster relief company, which bears his name and is based in Grand Ridge; the bride’s mother serves as the office manager.

The groom, 28, is the chief legal officer of iMobile3, a Jacksonville-based payment technology company.

He is the son of Julie Ward and Daryl Ward of Lakeland, Fla. The groom’s mother is the principal of Rochelle School of the Arts in Lakeland. His father is the principal of Harrison School for the Performing Arts in Lakeland, and an elected member of the National Education Council for Americans for the Arts.

Ms. Lollie and Mr. Ward crossed paths often enough in the hallways in law school for him to notice her and to ask a mutual friend to make an introduction.

“In addition to the fact that she’s absolutely gorgeous, she knows how to talk to people,” Mr. Ward said. “She’s articulate, smart and beautiful, just so well put together, and that well-roundedness just caught my eye.”

They began dating in August 2014, with Mr. Ward splitting his time between a Florida gubernatorial fellowship at the Department of Economic Opportunity in Tallahassee and a clerkship for a corporate law firm in Orlando.

As Mr. Ward balanced his obligations, Ms. Lollie was busy traveling the state in pursuit of the Miss Florida USA crown.

Ms. Lollie was named Miss Emerald Coast in Panama City Beach in April 2014. She then went to Fort Lauderdale three months later to compete for the Miss Florida USA crown — and won. A year later, she competed in the Miss USA competition in Baton Rouge, La., while still a full-time law student.

Ms. Lollie was nearing the end of law school when Mr. Ward was asked by a defense contractor, the Patriot Group International, to oversee a humanitarian operation that rescued, resettled and restored more than 4,000 people fleeing the Islamic State.

Over the next year, Mr. Ward jetted between Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Australia, Israel and other nations, coordinating former Army Special Forces personnel and directing negotiations between embassy officials for the safe resettlement of those fleeing Iraq’s Nineveh Plains and other Islamic State-controlled areas.

“It was a very nerve-racking decision that wouldn’t have been made without Ashleigh’s full support,” Mr. Ward said.

Indeed, Ms. Lollie encouraged him to go.

“I was absolutely nervous for him but that was something he needed to do because he was uniquely suited for the position,” she said. “It was an amazing, amazing experience for him, and a crazy time for both of us.”

Upon graduating law school, Ms. Lollie joined Mr. Ward overseas for several trips while he supported religious leaders in their quest to stabilize remaining religious minority populations throughout the Middle East, while also serving as an adviser for high-risk rescues in Iraq and Syria within Islamic State territory.

In December 2016, Mr. Ward came home.

“It was so wonderful to be together again,” Ms. Lollie said. “It gave me peace of mind, and we were able to spend the holidays together with family and friends.”

In March 2017, they got engaged in Telluride, Colo. “For both of us,” Ms. Lollie said. “It was worth the wait.”